On Arrested Development, Jason Bateman played a jerk who starts out looking like a put-upon hero. In his feature directing debut Bad Words, however, he skips the nice-guy facade entirely and goes straight to the dickish behavior.

Bateman plays Guy, a 40-year-old man who discovers a loophole that allows him to compete against eighth-graders in a national spelling bee. And compete he does, picking on kids and parents alike along the way. Nevertheless, there’s one young competitor (Homeland‘s Rohan Chand) so lonely and naive, he latches onto Guy anyway.

The film got strong reviews when it premiered at Toronto last year, and is now headed for a theatrical release. Watch the newest trailer after the jump.

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Jason Bateman‘s directorial debut, Bad Words, premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Buzz was solid for the dark comedy, which stars Bateman as a 40-year-old man who finds a loophole in the system and competes in the National Spelling Bee. Alison Janney, Kathryn Hahn andPhillip Baker Hall co-star in the film, which finally hits theaters March 14 in a limited opening before going wide on March 28. Though we’ve seen a red-band trailer, the green band has now been released. Read More »

Jason Bateman makes his feature directorial debut with the comedy Bad Words, about a guy (played by Bateman) who hijacks a national spelling bee. How does that happen, exactly? The red-band trailer below will show you a bit, just as it’ll let you know how the supporting cast such as Rohan Chand (Homeland), Kathryn Hahn (We’re the Millers), Ben Falcone (Bridesmaids), Philip Baker Hall (Argo), and Allison Janney (The Help) factor in.

The language in this one really isn’t for work; this teaser makes the Bad Grandpa red-band stuff sound positively tame.

One of the most prestigious film festivals in North America, the Toronto Film Festival, has begun to announce its line up for 2013. The event takes place September 5-15 and as usual, the line-up includes pretty much every highly-anticipated awards contender scheduled for release through the end of the year.

Just a few examples are the Jackie Brown prequel Life of Crime, Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club, the star-studded August: Osage County, Idris Elba in Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave, the West Memphis Three film Devil’s Knot (above), Jason Reitman’s latest Labor Day, Jason Bateman’s debut Bad Words, Ron Howard’s Rush, the Wikileaks film The Fifth Estate, Mike Myers’ documentary Supermench, Matthew Weiner’s You Are Here, Hugh Jackman in Prisoners, Keanu Reeves’ Man of Tai Chi and Alfonso Cuaron’s space drama, Gravity.

And they haven’t even finished announcing everything. Below, read everything in this first wave. Read More »

Briefly: When a pissed off adult decides to exploit a loophole and compete in a children’s spelling bee, he’s got to have some antagonists. Who better than Allison Janney and Phillip Baker Hall? That’s who Jason Bateman just cast in his directorial debut, Bad Words, which starts filming in Los Angeles this week. Bateman play the lead in the film and will also be joined by Kathryn Hahn, Ben Falcone andRohan Chandz. The script was written byAndrew Dodge. Expect this comedy sometime in 2013. [Deadline]

Jason Bateman is about to make his feature directorial debut and by God, he’s earned it. The long time comedic actor had some up and downs early in his career but has been at the top of Hollywood comedy casting calls for the past several years, starting with Arrested Development and up to last year’s Paul, Horrible Bosses and The Change-Up. He’s directed a bunch of TV episodes but Variety reports he’ll now be both star in and direct the indie comedy Bad Words, a Black List script byAndrew Dodge. Bad Words tells the story of bitter adult who uses a loophole to enter a spelling bee for children. Read more after the jump. Read More »

Each December since 2004, studio executive Franklin Leonard has compiled the best unproduced screenplays of the year, as voted by hundreds of execs, agency guys, and high-level assistants. Titled The Black List, the compendium highlights both established screenwriters and up-and-comers, and has served as a launching pad in the past for projects like Juno, Lars and the Real Girl, and (500) Days of Summer. Last year’s list included Margin Call, Crazy, Stupid, Love, The Hunger Games, and Snow White and the Huntsman.

It should be noted that the headline is somewhat misleading — some of these screenplays have already been acquired and are already in development, though according to Leonard none will have entered principal photography by December 31, 2011. Also worth pointing out is that, as in previous years, there have been rumors that some of the participants have been accused of using the Black List to promote their own clients or friends. Finally, as Leonard reminds us each time, “The Black List is not a ‘best of’ list. It is, at best, a ‘most liked’ list.”

Regardless, we can always rely on the Black List to stir up conversation among both industry insiders and outside spectators alike, so without further ado, hit the jump for the complete 2011 list.